2018 Research Grant Award
£46,463 for a 9 month project to start April 2019 at Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park.
Grant Applicants:
Professor Nathalie Juge
Arjan Narbad (co-applicant)
Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer and colon cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Some risk factors include diet (red and processed meat), obesity, smoking and lack of physical activity. In addition, increasing evidence links the gut microbiota (inhabiting the large intestine) with colorectal cancer.
The bacterium Fusobacterium nucleatum is a common inhabitant of both the oral cavity and the human gut and shown to be increased in the large intestine of patients with colon cancer. F. nucleatum is pathologically and clinically associated with cancer recurrence and patient outcome. Chemotherapy failure is the major cause of recurrence and poor prognosis in colorectal cancer patients. Although the mechanisms leading to F. nucleatum tumour development have been extensively studied, it is not known why F. nucleatum establish itself and proliferates in the local tumour environment in the first place.